Once Upon a Time
by Suki-Itami
Summary: Set 150 years before "Twilight". Before Edward and Bella met there must have been another girl Edward loved. One almost exactly like Bella, though a little more polite. If that were so, just how did she die? Edward/OC --POV changes from Edward to my OC--
1. Chapter 1

"_You don't know how long I've been waiting for you."_

~Edward Cullen – _Twilight_

…

**~Edward POV~**

I swore to myself I wouldn't kill another human. I owe it to Carlisle for saving me from death – technically anyway – and I don't want to turn into one of the monsters everyone's so afraid of. And I can't believe that I'm actually overcome by one woman's mere presence! I want to bite her so badly, she smells so good… Goddammit!

"Edward, did you hear a word I just said?!" My "sister" Alice waved her hand in my face as if she was trying to be a five-year-old again.

"Uh… No…?" I laughed a little bit, hoping that she would take time to say what she had said again whenever I wasn't distracted.

"Ugh!" Alice threw her hands up in defeat and pointed a very slender finger right in my face. "You can read my mind, I know you can, but you have to pay attention to what people are saying sometimes instead of just what they're thinking!"

I laughed nervously this time, knowing that I would soon regret what I'm about to say. "I wasn't really paying any attention to your thoughts either."

"ARGH!!!!!" She put her hands on her head as trying to rid herself of a headache – which would be impossible because she's a vampire, like me, and can't get headaches, only blocks in her vision.

"What's had you so distracted lately, Edward?" My "brother" Jasper asked. (Him and Alice are a couple, it's weird to see one without the other, which is incredibly rare.)

I shrugged, glad that I was the only one in this small circle sitting on the grass in front of our schoolhouse who could read minds. Unfortunately…

Alice stared straight forward blankly for a total of maybe thirty seconds. I decided it was a good idea to pay attention to her thoughts this time, so I concentrated specifically on her.

…

_I approached a young girl with long dark brown hair and wearing a long dark red dress – much like the one Alice is wearing right now – and stopped in front of her. "Hi."_

_She looked up at me with frightened sapphire eyes. "Um, hi."_

_I smiled politely and held out my gloved hand for her to shake. "I'm Edward Cullen. You are?"_

_She shook my hand tentatively. "Johanna Shaw. It's, um, good to meet you…?"_

_I continued smiling as I pulled my hand away, knowing that if she held it for too long, she'd feel the cold stiffness underneath the glove._

…

Alice looked at me like I was the biggest idiot in this world. "You're turning into a lecher!" She said in a shocked voice.

"I am not!" I argued in my defense.

My second "sister" Rosalie – called Rose for short – looked between Alice and me. "Our brother is becoming a lecher how?"

"I am not becoming a lecher!"

"Quiet, Edward, so I can tell them!" Alice scolded me as if tired with it – can't blame her either, I've been doing this a lot lately. "I saw Edward in my vision this time. He's going to go introduce himself to that Johanna girl. I wish I could read his mind to know just what he's going to do once he gains her trust, but I don't need to read minds, or see the future to know how this will turn out. It'll be just like last time."

"In my defense, I didn't realize that girl last time had been imprinted by one of the mangy mutts!"

And lastly, my second "brother" Emmett started to just roar with laughter. "Regardless of that, you shouldn't have told her the secret until Carlisle or Esme had approved." (Him and Rose are together and it's just as weird to see them separate like when Alice and Jasper are apart.)

"I agree with Emmett." Jasper nodded. "It's true that I managed to calm her down enough to where she didn't tell her 'imprinter' our location, but they do know we exist."

I crossed my arms over my chest in a slightly childish way. I hated when they brought that up, it's always annoying. I had made one little mistake by letting a young girl that a werewolf had imprinted know that my family and myself were vampires. Luckily, Jasper was nearby and managed to calm her down before she ran off and told "the pack". They know we exist and that's the extent of it, but none of them will ever let me forget, even if I live to be one thousand.

The bell in the wooden one-room schoolhouse rang loudly, signaling us to go back inside for the remainder of the day.

Emmett sighed. If there was one thing he hated, it was probably sitting behind the small desk that was half his size and learning about stuff we've learned over and over again. But, we have to keep going to school to keep up the human façade.

I looked over at small brown-haired, blue-eyed, pale girl in the red dress as she stood up from talking with her friends. "Johanna…" I mumbled softly, forgetting until that moment that Emmett, Rose, Alice, and Jasper could hear me.

Alice giggled as Emmett laughed loudly again. Both were enjoying my little moment of self-conflict as heart was starting to win over common sense.

I ignored them and their laughter as I strolled gracefully over to where Johanna was walking. I stopped in front of her. "Hi."

…

**~Johanna POV~**

I stopped instantly the moment I saw the perfect, lean figure of Edward Cullen standing in front of me. I barely even heard him as he said, "Hi." Somehow, I managed to gather enough courage to look up at his beautiful golden-brown eyes and reply:

"Um, hi." God, I must sound like such a frightened child right now! I mean, I should be anyway, Edward is actually talking to me! Okay, I have to act indifferent! Be indifferent!!! …This isn't going to work; I know it's not.

He smiled politely and held out a gloved hand for me to shake. "I'm Edward Cullen. You are?"

I shook his hand tentatively, scared to even think that this god could really want anything to do with me. "Johanna Shaw. It's, um, good to meet you…?"

He continued smiling as he pulled his hand away quickly, almost like touching me had scalded his hand through the glove. Okay, maybe he thought talking to me would be a good idea but has changed his mind. That would be a good thing, then I could go on without freaking out anymore.

"I was wondering if I could escort you back inside, miss Shaw. I would be happy if you would allow me that." Edward said through a completely genuine smile. He didn't seem nervous, or was acting like someone on a dare; he was being completely sincere.

I smiled softly and took his arm – he had it held out for me to grab onto if I had decided to allow him to escort me. As we walked into the schoolhouse, I felt every eye in the room – including that of the teacher – on us. My face started to burn with embarrassment. This wasn't such a good idea! I don't do well with people staring! (Okay, so a few girls were glaring, but they were still pretty much staring!)

Over in the far corner, the way Edward walked after taking me to my seat, his brother Emmett was all but rolling on the floor with laughter. That just made my face completely flush red. I was glad that all the eyes were away from me and on the teacher, who was trying to teach over Emmett's laughter, but I was still completely embarrassed. After all, I hadn't considered the consequences of being escorted into the schoolhouse by Edward. I guess I probably should've thought about that, but the moment was too good to pass up. I just reacted like any sane woman would have.

Oh well, I'll deal with it later. Right now, though, I need to concentrate on the teacher. My grades aren't the best, so I need to pay special attention to this lesson.

I sighed as quiet as I could, but for some reason when I looked over, Edward and his sister Alice were both looking at me. I turned my head back to the front of the room; I knew my face was red again. What did I do to deserve such weirdness today? What?

…

**Sorry that Johanna's POV wasn't very long, but the next chapter will pick up with her POV to start with, I promise!**


	2. Chapter 2

**~Johanna POV~**

Finally! School's out for the day! I never though it would end! I have homework, but that doesn't bother me; it never really has. Actually, the only thing that even bothered me about school today was Edward staring at me across the room ever since he escorted me back inside after lunch. Oh well, the weirdness is over for today, so I can go home!

"Johanna." I turned around at the sound of my name and found myself face-to-face with Emmett.

I jumped about three-feet into the air when I saw Edward's brother behind me. "H-Hello Emmett." I looked straight forward as he stood straight up, and I found myself looking just below the ruffled collar of his white shirt.

He laughed, seeming happy he had surprised me. "Hello yourself." He looked around before becoming serious. "Listen, I'm warning you now as a courtesy, not because I'm concerned. Stay away from us."

"Huh?" I looked around as well and saw more people staring, including Emmett's siblings; Edward seemed the angriest for some reason. "What're you talking about?"

Though he seemed resigned to telling me what he thought, he hesitated. By the time he had taken a breath to say what he was going to say, Edward was next to him. If there was more fury in the world, I believe Edward would've taken it in a second.

"Go home, Emmett, **I'll** talk with Johanna now." Edward said menacingly, glaring at the back of his brother's head.

Emmett, though as strong as he seemed, turned instantly and walked mechanically towards Alice and Jasper – his other siblings – and Rosalie – his girlfriend, and they live together, so weird. Maybe they're married like Alice and Jasper – that's still weird considering their age, but it makes sense.

Edward, who had had his glare trained on Emmett until he was out of eyeshot, suddenly turned to me with the calmest smile I've ever seen. "Sorry about that."

"Um, yeah…" I looked around him and in the direction his siblings had gone. "Will Emmett be okay? It seemed like you scared him a bit."

"He'll be fine." He frowned. "You don't need to take anything he said to you to heart. There's no reason to stay away from us." He laughed, "We're not dangerous or anything."

I smiled back at him with the small smile that gained the attention of many guys my age and older. For some reason, they think the "playing coy" smile is cute. "Yeah, I figured. Most girls don't go for a dangerous guy anyway. I think I only would if I absolutely couldn't control my feelings. But I can." At least, when I'm not around Edward.

Edward chuckled. "Yes, judging from your demeanor earlier, you can control your feelings quite well."

Damn him! The only thing I really hate about him is that I can't tell if he's being sarcastic or not.

He held out his elbow as he did when he escorted me into the schoolhouse from lunch. "May I walk you home?"

I continued to smile. "Let me guess, 'you'd be honored if I allowed you this privilege'."

He smiled a beautiful crooked smile. "Well, of course. What man wouldn't be honored to escort a beautiful woman, like you home?"

I giggled and took his elbow. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt anything."

As we began to walk, I started wondering how exactly he found me beautiful. I mean, compared to him, I'm a troll. He's absolutely gorgeous with his perfectly toned pale skin, almost as white as a fluffy cloud, and the golden brown eyes to compliment it. The only thing about being this close to him was that it seemed like there was always some kind of cold radiating off of him, plus, being this close, I can see up into his face where it looks like he was made from marble; like he is the perfect, moving statue. His skin through his glove earlier, and through the sleeve of his shirt at the crook of his elbow now, is hard like a stone. It's almost like he really is a moving statue.

Now, I, on the hand, am so ugly next to this god that I'm not even going to bother mentioning my appearance.

Before I could even get in a word to Edward, he stopped and looked at my house. A wonderful white two-story house with an equally beautiful front lawn/garden. But, I'm sure if Edward's appearance is any indication as to his home, then this place looks like a shack next to it. (God, why do I care?!)

"Your home is lovely." He said honestly enough as he walked me to the door.

I chuckled twice. "Yeah, you can thank my mother for that. She can't stand anything looking plain or ordinary. She even tries to make me look like I'm some princess from England or something."

Edward stopped just before we reached the porch and turned to me. "You do look like a princess. You're always beautiful at school, or around the village when I see you."

I felt all my blood rush to my face in that same instance, I bowed my head and turned to walked into my house. I stopped while walking up the three stairs onto the porch and said, "Thank you for escorting me home."

"No need to thank me, I'll do it anytime." I could hear his shoes echoing on the stones as he walked away.

I walked onto the porch and into my house without saying anything. I headed to my room, pausing at my door when I thought about what Edward said when he interrupted Emmett. _"There's no reason to stay away from us." He laughed, "We're not dangerous or anything."_

How'd he know his brother had told me to stay away from them?

…

**~Edward POV~**

As soon as I was in the woods, I started to run as fast as I could. I just don't get Emmett sometimes; he didn't have to warn Johanna of **anything**! If I thought she was in danger from us, I wouldn't even be pursuing this attraction I would like to one day call a relationship.

I stopped running once I reached the other side of the woods and just stared at the huge three story home me, my "siblings", and my "parents" – Carlisle and Esme – lived at. The color was white, like every other house around here, long pillars that held an overhang for the large porch that led to the two polished, wooden double doors. There were at least four windows on each of the three stories. And the yard was exactly like at Johanna's house, a large garden full of all types of flowers.

Esme has a lot of time on her hands, and hates having nothing to do. She's been tending this monstrosity of a garden for almost ten years, preventing us from moving anywhere. I guess not moving hasn't been all bad though, because we haven't moved I met Johanna.

I sighed and smiled as I thought of that beautiful human girl and her attractive scent. Which suddenly reminds me of what Emmett had told her. He warned her to stay away from us simply because he didn't trust me after that last incident.

I stomp towards the house, not caring to hurry. If I knew Alice, she'd already warned Emmett as the possible beating coming his way for telling Johanna to stay away. Not that it would do any good; it'd just make me feel better. And, knowing Emmett, he wouldn't make this anymore fun for me by running away like he did the first couple of times. Then again, he learned that it calms me down faster and then he doesn't have much of a fight. Good thing we're not human, or one of us would be dead.

I opened the double doors and saw Emmett standing across the room in front of the glass wall that serves at the back wall for the house. He was smirking, which was a sure signal Alice told him about a fight that he was probably going to win.

Alice ran into the room right before I could run at Emmett and stepped between us. "I just saw you two breaking the wall again! Esme will be so pissed if you two break it again!"

Emmett rolled his arm around in a wide circle out to the side of his body. "Tell Esme not to worry about the front wall. We won't break it again."

As strange as that just sounded, the glass wall is usually the wall to have the highest chance of survival in the fights me and Emmett have. (Oddly enough, it really is true.) "Yeah, tell her—"

"I **saw** you two breaking damn wall!" Alice yelled.

"Edward, Emmett, take it outside!" Esme shouted from the music room. She had been tuning her violin, but had stopped to tell us what she thought. "The builders keep wondering why the wall keeps falling down, and it's getting harder and harder to explain! They're starting to think the foundation's bad for the house, and I don't want to move or rebuild!"

Emmett and I sighed heavily and ran outside. We stopped once we were on the walkway leading up to the house. Save for this patch of stone, the entire yard – front and back – is Esme's monstrous garden. And she'd rip us apart – quite literally – if we destroyed even a fraction of her garden. I thought about taking this fight into the woods, but the villagers might get concerned if trees started randomly falling.

I faced Emmett. "Hey, Emmett, would you consider me just giving you this one?" As much as I knew he hated me just giving up like this, I knew he had to see the logic in it too.

He shrugged. "I'll take it. I don't like it, but I know exactly how Esme would react if even one flower is destroyed."

Esme's trilling laugh could be heard as we entered the house again, and her laugh blending in beautifully with the selection from Mozart she was playing on her violin. Alice was leaning against the spiral staircase leading up to the next two floors with a victorious smile on her face. She had that look on her face like she had just accomplished something she was proud of. Which, in this case, was stopping Emmett and me from fighting.

Emmett glared at her and stomped up the stairs to his room. I sat down next to her and looked at her from the corner of my eye. "Where's Jazz?"

Alice leaned back against a stair. "He went upstairs to go get something. He wouldn't tell me what." She started tapping one finger on her leg in time with the music floating out of the room Esme was playing in. "I'd look to see what it was but Jasper seemed like he really wanted to surprise me."

I chuckled dryly once. "I thought you couldn't control your visions and when they happened."

"Sometimes I can. It's hard, but if I really don't want to see into the future, I won't."

I nodded once and turned to look up the stairs as Jazz came walking down with a light blue dress, with dark blue trim and pearls set in the neck, in his arms. I smiled a bit, knowing that the dress was exactly what Alice had been wanting for some time now. There was absolutely nothing he wouldn't do for her.

"Alice." Jazz said softly.

She turned around, not surprised by his being there, seeing as she heard him long ago. What she was surprised to see was the dress in his arms. Her face was priceless, and she looked so grateful for it. She stood up and pressed her lips to Jazz's in a thank you. He returned the kiss happily, obviously hoping for a long drawn out kiss, but it was not. Alice broke away from him and snatched the dress from his arms, running up the stairs to their room to put it on.

Jazz sighed in some disappointment, but he also knew it was to be expected with her. She loves fashion almost as much as she loves him, and we all always have a feeling that isn't going to change for a long time.

I laughed, "Come on, you know her, don't seem so disappointed."

He sat down next to me, where Alice had been sitting just a moment ago. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I love to surprise her with those dresses, all the jewelry she wants, everything. I know she appreciates it, but sometimes I kind of wish she wouldn't just rush off the moment she has her hands on it." Though as distraught as he seemed, Jazz smiled. "But, then again, I wouldn't love Alice if she were any different."

I looked over at him, secretly wishing, as always that I had what him and Alice had: love, a security blanket, someone to fill the void. I guess I am a little bit of a hopeless romantic, but some girls really like that. Unfortunately, the ones who like that aren't who I'm after. I look up at the high ceiling, thinking about Johanna, about her thoughts and how hard she had tried to act indifferent about me being there. I chuckled at the thought of her desperately trying, giving herself a mental coaching. That was the funniest thing that has happened all day!

Jazz looked over at me when I chuckled. "Something funny?"

"That girl, Johanna."

He sighed and looked up at the ceiling as well. "You shouldn't pursue her, you know that."

"I know…but I…" In the music room, Mozart finally faded over to Debussy. "…I guess…"

"You're pursuing a fatal attraction." Rose said as she strutted down the staircase in a low cut baby blue floor length dress.

Jazz looked up at our blonde sister first. "You've been noticeably absent."

"I was dealing with my disappointed lover." I could feel her shooting me a death glare. "He **really** wanted to fight."

"Yeah, yeah. Blame Esme." I sighed.

Esme stopped playing and walked out of the room with her violin in her hand. "Don't even think about blaming me! I don't the replace the wall again."

I looked over at my brown haired "mother" without even looking like I had heard. "I know. It's not my fault though, he started it."

Esme shook her head and turned back into the music room gracefully, her floor length crimson red dress spinning around her as she did.

Next thing I knew, Emmett was down the stairs and standing in front of me. He didn't look happy at all too. "Lets go! I don't care how much damage is done to the damn forest!"

I laughed dryly and stood up. "Sounds good to me!"


	3. Chapter 3

**~Edward POV~**

I dodged a punch Emmett threw at me the moment I stepped out of the house, doing a front flip to halfway down the walkway. He ran at me almost as fast as he could, determined to connect his fist with my face this time.

Unfortunately for me, this time he does connect his fist with my face. I went flying into the woods, knocking down about four or five trees as I landed on the ground with a really loud _thud_.

"Come on, that's pathetic!" Emmett yelled as he ran into the woods after me, trying to punch me where I laid on the ground.

I barely managed to spin off the ground and ricochet off of a tree – which left a **huge** dent in said tree – towards him to avoid his punch. After I ricocheted my body off of the tree, I willed my body to twist around to kick him square across the face. Though I did connect with his face, Emmett grabbed my foot and forced me to go with him right through about seven trees – knocking them **all** down.

Once we landed, I spun my other leg around and kicked my trapped leg free while propelling myself into the air and over another tree.

I heard someone complaining about the woods the moment I entered the top of the woods again. I stopped once I landed and looked around, I couldn't see who it was yet, but they were close enough that if me and Emmett continued our fight then they'd hear. I looked over the fallen trees and saw Emmett looking in the same direction that I had been – he heard them as well.

"Dammit!" I cursed under my breath. Just when I was about start really trying!

I heard Emmett curse too as he looked over at me. "If you don't give up now, I'll kick your sorry ass later."

I chuckled a few times. "I'm not giving up then! I wanna finish this fight!"

"Yeah right, like you—"

"Damn this forest!" The girl's voice radiated through our ears, silencing Emmett as she neared. "Why do they live back here?"

"I'll see you back at the house." He said as he turned and ran back to the house.

I turned in the direction the girl was coming from, prepared for some random girl from the village to appear. I put on a smile as the girl appeared, but who appeared wasn't the girl I expected at all.

"Johanna?"

…

**~Johanna POV~**

Ugh! I should've stayed at home! This damn forest is getting on my last nerves! "Damn this forest! Why do they live back here?"

"Johanna?" Edward asked as I broke through the remaining trees and into a small clearing with many trees – about twenty – fallen around.

I looked around at the fallen trees, but don't ask about them. They must've fallen down in that last storm. "Hey Edward. What're you doing out here, on a walk?" Yeah, stupid question, I know. This is his property; he's probably just looking for a good place to camp later on.

"Actually, I was looking for Emmett." He said with a winning smile. (Oh wow…! Stop thinking about that!) "He left a bit ago to go into the village for some meat and hasn't returned. He loves to hide in the forest to shirk his duties, so I figured that I'd look."

"Oh!" I giggled, (why am I giggling?!). "You're such a good brother."

"Yeah right." He scoffed. "If were up to Emmett, I'd be lost somewhere in the ocean right now."

"Oh my!"

"Yeah…" He looked back as if he heard something and turned back to me. "So, um, are you…hungry? I-I mean, did you eat before trekking way out here off the trail." Considering he looks like he could blush any second, he's keeping himself together pretty—wait a minute! Trail?!

"Trail?"

"Yeah, there's a trail right over there." I looked at where Edward was pointing and saw, just beyond where one lone tree was standing was a dirt trail that lead back to the village and up to the start of a stone path to the Cullen's house.

I blushed deeply. I feel so stupid! I had no idea there was a trail! "O-Oops! I had n-no idea that was there!" Oh my god, how embarrassing!

He chuckled. "Come on, Johanna, don't act so embarrassed." We walked over to the trail and began to walk towards his house. "The trail's really hard to find from the village, so I can't blame you."

"Okay then." I felt better knowing that it was hard to find in the first place. If the trail had been in plain view, I would've felt even worse.

"Now, are you hungry?"

Just then, my stomach growled. I put my hand on my stomach, as if to silence it. I knew I should've eaten before I came out here.

Edward just chuckled again. "Well, come on, I bet Esme's already started cooking."

I looked up at him. "You call your mother Esme, not 'mom' or 'mother'?"

A look suddenly crossed his face like he had said something wrong, but it was gone as fast as it came. "Yes, She prefers the informality. Esme says that it keeps us all close."

"Oh. Is Dr. Carlisle the same?" He probably is, considering that he even wants his patients – me being one of them – to call him Dr. Carlisle or just plain Carlisle.

"Yes. Carlisle does prefer to be called by just his name. I suggest you don't call him Dr. Carlisle outside of his office though."

"Why?"

"Like I said, he prefers informality. You can call both of them by their respective names. They won't mind."

"Okay."

Finally, we enter the grand house that totally puts mine to shame. Immediately, Edward's tiny sister, Alice, came skipping down the stairs in a beautiful baby blue dress with dark blue trim and pearls set in the neck. Aw…I want one! I probably wouldn't look as good in it as Alice, but I still want one!

"Hey there!" Alice said to me, as if she was expecting me to come. These people are an odd bunch…

"Hi." I said with my head hung. This is awkward!

Out of nowhere, Alice ran at me and gave me a big hug. I turned the darkest shade of red possible as all of my blood rushed to my face. This is even more awkward!

"Um, Alice?" Edward said behind me with a sigh. "What are you doing?"

"She seemed uncomfortable," she said as she let go of me, "so I helped."

"To make her even more uncomfortable." Jasper said as he walked into the room. "Really, Alice, you need to control yourself around new people."

"I'm sorry." Alice said with a sincere apologetic smile. "I promise that next time I'll ask you if you want a hug."

I looked up. "It's okay, really." Thank god the blush is going away, I thought I was going to turn into a lobster here! Oh yeah, I have to talk with Edward. "Um, Edward—"

He smiled knowingly at me and said, "How could I have been so stupid? There's obviously something you need to speak to one of us about if you've come all this way."

"Y-Yes, I do need to speak with you." I said nervously.

"Of course." He wrapped one arm around my shoulders and turned us both to the door. "Lets talk outside."

"Um, o-okay." Damn! The blush is back!

He chuckled as quietly as he could as we walked out onto the porch of his home. He let his arm fall from my shoulders as I stopped walking and he walked almost to where the three steps were. He turned back around and smiled at me.

"Now, what do you need to talk to me about?" Edward asked me with a smile to apparently calm me down. (It's not working, it's just making me feel worse.)

"Well…actually, it's about…it's about earlier." I don't even know if I'm gonna be able to get this out or not. I just feel so awkward right now.

"Is it about Emmett? Because if it is—"

"No! No, it's not about Emmett!" I laughed. "It's actually about when you were walking me home."

"Did I say something that offended you?"

I laughed, "No, just listen!" I shook my head, trying to stop laughing before continuing. "When you said that I don't need to worry about what Emmett said, about staying away from you guys… How did you hear him from where you were?"

Edward stared at me for a moment, apparently astonished that I had caught that. After a moment he said, "I heard him when I was walking over. I'm sorry that you were confused over that."

Strange…he seems…serious all of a sudden. Did I say something wrong?

He suddenly smiled at me out of nowhere. Well, he seems to have passed over his serious moment. "I think it's best if you go home now. I shouldn't have invited you for dinner. Carlisle hates company on days when he's tired, and I have a feeling today's gonna be one of those days."

"Okay." I started walking down the stairs and Edward tried following me. I turned around. "I can walk home myself this time."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow." I turned back around and began walking back down the trail.

…

**~Edward POV~**

As I turned to walk back inside the house, I heard Carlisle and Johanna talk a bit as they crossed paths not too far away. It wasn't a long talk, just long enough for Carlisle to be able to give me thorough talking to when he got here. I'll be surprised if he doesn't… Heh… It looks like Emmett's getting talked to as well.

Shortly after Johanna's footsteps echoed away, Carlisle was directly behind me, the door was closed. He sighed and I stopped. "Edward, I told you to be careful about what you said around them."

"Sorry Carlisle, I wasn't thinking." I said honestly. "I seriously hadn't been thinking when I said that, I just didn't want Johanna thinking that we were seriously dangerous people."

He sighed and walked around me, stopping Emmett. "And you, stop picking fights. If anymore trees fall and the villagers see, we might have to pack up and leave or else the Volturi **will **come."

Emmett stopped in his tracks, if he had any breath left, it would've too. "You've threatened us with this before, Carlisle, how do I know that they will come?"

"One of them, Aro, walked into my office today." Carlisle looked back at where I was standing as everyone else entered the room. "Word got to them of how long we've stayed here. Aro said we need to move soon, or else we risk the humans knowing about us."

"We haven't even finished school here yet." Alice chimed in.

"That's what I told Aro." Carlisle sighed. "He's giving us only a few months after all of you finish your schooling here to get out."

"If we don't?" I asked a bit defiantly. I know I shouldn't be using a tone like that when speaking of a threat from the Volturi, but I don't care. I can only think of more and more reasons to stay as opposed to leaving.

Carlisle looked between Esme – leaning in the door of the music room – and Rose – standing in the frame of the walkway leading to the kitchen. "They—"

"We'll kill you, simple as that." A young man said as I felt him stroll in through the door.

"Aro." Carlisle said with a nervous twinge in his voice.

Aro walked up to me and rested one hand on my shoulder. "I let you off easy last time you revealed our secret – you were only five years old, which was why – you reveal it again without realizing who you're saying it to, I'll destroy you myself."

I saw Emmett visibly growl at Aro, Carlisle started telling him to calm down or the elder vampire might snap. Aro laughed as if he and Carlisle were sharing some joke on Emmett.

"Very good of you to say that, my friend." He grabbed Emmett's chin. "You are only, say, what, ten years old?"

Emmett pulled his face away from Aro. "I'm eleven actually."

"Ah, yes, that's right. Last month was the anniversary." He chuckled. "That means Edward is, what, fourteen now?"

I nodded once. "Yes."

"A fourteen year old vampire should know better than to back talk me." Aro's face got really serious. "And should know better than to allow a human girl access to your home any time she wants."

"I didn't realize she was coming. I didn't even know she knew that location of our house." I said maybe a bit too defensively. What can I say? I really don't like this guy.

Aro shrugged. "Regardless, it's the rules. As Carlisle told you, I'm giving all of you only a few months after you finish your schooling to pack up and get out. If you don't, myself and the rest of the guard will come after you. You will die, and you will regret not leaving."

"As I told you earlier, Aro," Carlisle said as he rested his hand on his old friend's shoulder, "we'll leave shortly after they're through. I'll say I got a better job out west, or there's a good university for the kids…but I promise we'll be gone."

"For your sake, I hope your kids are thinking the same." Aro shoved his hands in his pockets and ran right out the door.

Rose shut the door behind Aro and shook her head. "I can't believe this. This is insane and completely unnecessary."

"Rosalie!" Esme scolded.

"What?" Rose asked with the defiant tone that we've come to define her by.

"You're only two years older than Emmett, so I'll tell you." Carlisle said as he sat down on the white chair that sat in the middle of the living room. "The Volturi have always had an interest in us. We live off of animals instead of humans. Jasper can control the emotion of a room of people or vampires. Edward can read minds. Alice can see the future."

Emmett sighed. "What's that mean for us?"

"If they come to kill us, Alice and Edward – possibly Jasper as well – will be the only ones spared because of their talent. The Volturi – mainly Aro and Caius – see a great potential in having them on their side. This family will cease to exist." Carlisle said as he looked up at the ceiling.

No one said anything for a while. I could read nothing in anyone's mind but my own. Knowing that Aro would spare my life if I told Johanna that I was vampire was relaxing. I felt like I could tell her and nothing bad would happen…but, maybe he would go after her instead. Maybe because she knew, the Volturi would see her as a threat. God, I don't know what to do.

"It's not the right time, Edward." Jazz said behind me. "You can't tell her yet."

"Tell who, what?" Carlisle asked, his head suddenly turned in my direction.

"Tell Johanna that we're…vampires." I said hesitantly. I know Carlisle's going to never let me hear the end of this one, but I had to say it now that Jazz opened his mouth.

"You can't **ever** tell her!" Rose said out of nowhere. "What if the same thing as last time happens?! I don't want to die!"

"I'll make sure the Volturi don't come after you and your 'precious' hair." I said sarcastically. "I never asked for your input."

Suddenly, I was on the ground with Rose sitting on top of me, threatening to rip my head off. "Say that one more time, you stupid son-of-a—"

Emmett grabbed her around the waist and pulled her off of me. "Calm down, baby, calm down!"

I leaped up, but only into a crouch as I whipped around and faced the two. "Let her go! I've always wanted to fight her!"

Reluctantly, Emmett released Rose. She crouched down and growled at me. "You're going to regret this!"

"I highly doubt that!" I growled.

…

**I'm sorry about two things: 1) The many POV changes. I needed the put Johanna in there somewhere, so I temporarily broke off Edward long enough for her to be there. 2) Ending the chapter with the beginning of yet another fight. I'm sorry if you don't like me ending two chapters in a row with a fight, but go with me here. I have an idea that I hope is good, and I need to work it out a bit more before writing any more or any less than what's in this chapter. So, sorry.**


	4. Chapter 4

**~Johanna POV~**

The Cullens are a strange family. They seemed so uncomfortable with me there – save for Alice, of course – even Edward did. I wonder why…

I move my hand over to play with the diamond bracelet around my right wrist and find it…gone. I looked down at my bare wrist, now officially panicking. Oh no! Where could I have dropped it?! I know I had it before I went to Edward's house…I had it when I got there…I must've lost it when I went inside, or maybe on the way back.

Dammit! I gotta go back, my mom's gonna be so mad when I'm late for dinner, but she'll be even more mad that I lost the bracelet.

I turned around and began to run back in the direction I came from. This isn't good! I hope they don't mind that I'm intruding again, but this is an emergency.

…

**~Edward POV~**

"Dammit all!" I yelled as I was slammed back into a tree. I didn't think Rose was gonna be this hard to beat. I hope this doesn't take too long.

I dive out of the way as the still very much-enraged woman launched herself at me and took down the tree with one punch. She turned around and kicked herself off of the stump, flipping around to kick me across the face. I grabbed her ankle and spun us both around, throwing her further into the forest.

I ran after her, hoping that this was the turning point that would turn this battle in my favor. Unfortunately, I heard her scream at the top of her lungs about her hair getting screwed up and she ran at me. Oh great…!

After only a second, our fists collided with each others faces, causing a loud noise that sounded like a rock slide to occur while sending us both flying back. I went so far back, that I was back at the glass wall of the house.

"Edward!" Alice shouted from the other side of the glass, knowing full well that I could hear her. Must be an emergency. "Johanna dropped her bracelet, she could be coming back!"

"I'll give it back to her tomorrow." I said flatly. That's all I was gonna do, give her back her bracelet and strike up a conversation. That is, until Alice directed her current vision right at me.

…

_I dropped on the stone walkway in front of the house, Rose jumped over the house to punch me farther into the ground. Suddenly, Emmett ran over and tackled her to the ground with the loud sound of a rock slide._

"_E-Edward?" A scared voice asked from behind me._

_I turned and saw a frightened Johanna standing there, staring at me with wide eyes. I froze; I knew Rose and Emmett had also stopped when they heard her voice. I stood up and she took a step back._

"_Johanna, wait—"_

…

I was thrown out of Alice's vision as Rose punched me square in the gut, sending me flying over the house. I landed on the stone walkway, leaving a small crater in it. Behind me, I heard footsteps stop as whoever it was saw Rose jump over the house to punch me farther into the ground.

Emmett ran over and tackled her to the ground with the loud sound of a rock slide. He began to talk softly to her, calming her down slowly.

"E-Edward?" I stood and turned around at her voice and saw Johanna staring at me with scared, wide eyes.

I took a step towards her and she took a step back. "Johanna, wait a second. I can explain this."

She looked over at Emmett and Rose, who were both staring at her in shock. They hadn't been expecting her either. I sighed deeply and tried to read her mind, but all I found was a bunch of jumbled, scared confusion.

Johanna looked between the three of us and managed to get out, "I-I think I dropped my b-bracelet."

"You did." That was all I could say calmly. I don't know if we can cover this one up…but either way, she knows we're not human. I took a breath, still trying to act a bit human. "Carlisle."

In an instant, Carlisle was by my side with Johanna's bracelet in his hand. "Hello Miss Shaw. Having a nice day?"

Johanna just cringed back a bit when she noticed how quickly he was there. "I-I suppose…"

Carlisle walked over to her and handed her, her bracelet. "Here you go. Be more careful with that, it's very valuable." He turned to walk back into the house, but stopped when Johanna asked:

"What are you people?!"

I turned to Carlisle. "We have to tell her. You know as well as I do that she saw me and Rose flying over the house. She saw and heard Emmett tackle Rose to the ground. She saw you suddenly appear beside me. We have no choice."

"You're a fool Edward!" Rose yelled at me. "If you tell her, the Volturi will come! Like I said earlier, I don't want to die!"

"This isn't about you, Rosalie!" I yelled back.

She chuckled. "Yes, that's right. The Volturi won't kill us, they'll kill the human whelp!"

Johanna let out a small scream as she fell down to the ground. "P-Please, you don't have to tell me!" She started crying. "I won't tell anyone, I swear, I just wanna live!"

"Now, now, calm down, you two, you're scaring her." Carlisle said as he walked over to Johanna. "Johanna, sweetie, listen to me. We have no choice but to tell you."

"No, no! Don't tell me! I don't want to die!" She screamed, covering her ears.

Carlisle removed her hands from her ears as gently as he could. "I promise, no harm will come to you." He stopped her from speaking again by raising his hand in front of her face. "On the off chance the Volturi come, we'll be ready. You won't die, we'll protect you. Okay?"

Johanna nodded once, but didn't speak. She was either too afraid, or in too much shock.

Carlisle helped her up and slowly led her back to the house. Me, Rose, and Emmett followed. Alice, Esme, and Jazz had already gotten the room fixed up from where me and Rose had started our fight. Carlisle sat Johanna down in the lone chair in the middle of the room. Jazz was on the far end of the room, a pained look was on his face as he restrained himself from attacking her. Alice was seated near him, sitting on the second step of the staircase. Emmett and Rose decided to stand over at the entryway to the house to stop anyone who wanted to enter. I stood back a little way, by Alice, as Carlisle and Esme stood in front of Johanna, only five feet from her.

Carlisle cleared his throat. "Johanna, listen carefully because I'm only gonna tell you once." He spread his arms out to indicate that this next statement meant all of us. "We're what many of you fear. I will say, though, there is nothing to be afraid of. We're not dangerous."

"Not…dangerous?!" Johanna said all of a sudden. "Edward just…**dove** over your house, Rosalie jumped over it! When Emmett tackled her, it sounded like a damn rock slide! What's not dangerous about that?!"

"What I should've said is, we're not a threat." Carlisle corrected.

"But…that doesn't tell me just what you are!" She shouted. "What kind of beings do that?!"

"Vampires." Alice said flatly.

"V-Vampires?" Johanna asked nervously.

"Yes," Alice continued, "we're, commonly called by humans, 'creatures of the night'. But we don't stalk around at night unless we're bored."

Johanna's hand raised up to her throat as she gulped. "You're not going to…drink my blood, are you?"

Emmett laughed a bit and said, "No, no, no, we don't drink human blood."

"Huh?" Johanna looked at us all confusingly. "But I thought that vampires drink human blood."

"Not all of us do." I finally said. "We've learned to live off of animals."

"We don't burn in the sunlight either." Rosalie said as-a-matter-of-factly. "That's a simple fairy tale. Just like the belief that crosses and 'holy water' will expel us."

Johanna leaned forward in her seat, no longer uncomfortable with a bunch of vampires around her, but interested in us. I guess hearing that we don't drink human blood calmed her down.

"Johanna, are you gonna be okay?" Esme asked her sincerely when she noticed that Johanna was being quiet.

Johanna shook her head. "I…I'm not sure. Is this…Is this real?"

"Yes, it is." Esme said softly.

"I had no idea…I didn't even dare to imagine that vampires existed." Johanna said, rubbing her temples.

"Is there anything else you want to know?" Alice asked with her usual happy voice back.

"Um…no…" She blushed.

"Don't lie, Johanna." I sighed. "She wants to know how long our lifespan is."

"Wait a second, how did you know that?!" Johanna demanded.

I chuckled. "I can read minds."

With that, Johanna fainted. Maybe I shouldn't have out right said it…


End file.
